Gateway Classic Cars of Tampa is proud to offer this Hunter Blue
1957 Chevrolet Bel Air. This sharp '57 Chevy is ready to fill your
garage with show trophies or even be cruised down the highway. This
1957 Bel Air is complete and will fire right up with a simple turn
of the key. Hunter blue with two tone blue and black cloth interior
is styled to be period correct. The blue exterior stands out with
golden accents on the front fenders and the grille. This '57 is
powered by a 283 V8 engine and a turbo-glide 3 speed manual
transmission. This car comes with a period correct 3 on the tree
shifting system. Brand new about 60 years ago this car had a sale
price of $3,116.63 after tax! Upgrades from the factory included
the transmission, Deluxe Heater, White wall tires, manual radio,
back-up lights, bumper guards for the front and rear, electric
covers, wheel spinners, door edge guard, and even body still
molding. This car has been upgraded with power steering for a more
enjoyable drive. The last owner of this car had it for almost 30
years and the quality shows. In 1957, Chevrolet started to add
safety features such as "crash proof door locks "(first added in
1956), padded dash boards, safety-styled steering wheel with a
recessed hub (though not as much as Ford's), seat belts(also first
in 1956) and shoulder harnesses. However, unlike Ford, Chevrolet
did not promote these safety features heavily. 1957 was also
Chevrolet's first offering of a turbine transmission, known as the
Turboglide. It was a design concept that Buick had developed with
their Dynaflow transmission. However, due to a reliability
reputation caused by its complexity, most automatic transmission
buyers shunned the Turboglide in favor of the two-speed Powerglide
that had been offered since 1950. At the time the Turboglide casing
was the largest cast aluminum component ever put into mass
production, but it never recovered from the reputation in 1957 and
the option was discontinued in 1961. Manual transmissions were
limited to three-speed, column shifted units (with synchromesh in
second and third gear only). The Powerglide's shifter went P N D L
R while the Turboglide's was P R N D Hr (although the 'Hr' was
changed early in the production series to 'Gr'-Grade Retarder
because of drivers' mistaken belief that 'Hr' meant High Range
instead of the correct Hill Retarder.) An overdrive unit was
available as an option on the three speed manually shifted
transmission cars. Starting at the end of May 1957, a four speed
manual transmission was also offered at an over-the-counter price
of $188.00 but no installation kit (shifter and linkage) was ever
offered by Chevrolet and, while an owner may have jury-rigged an
installation in their own car, there is no evidence that any dealer
ever actually installed the transmission in any car in 1957. A '57
equipped with this transmission mated to the 270 horsepower engine
and limited slip differential was the one to beat on the drag strip
and street into the early 1960s. This Hunter blue '57 Bel Air is a
piece of Chevrolet history and would be a great addition to any
collection. This 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air is up for sale in our Tampa
Showroom and can be viewed in greater detail including 100+ HD
pictures and an HD video at www.GatewayClassicCars.com. For
additional information, please call our knowledgeable staff at
(813)645-6200 or email us at
[email protected]. If you
would like to see it in person, come to our Tampa Showroom, located
at 351 30th Street NE Ruskin, FL 33570. Hours: Monday through
Saturday, 9 AM to 5 PM EST
